Temporary Lifestyle

You may not know this because I didn’t really talk about it much (and I found myself in Ottawa again quite a few times) but I moved to Toronto. I’m currently staying with friends until I find a permanent place of my own, but in my mind, this is where I live now.

Though I’ve been pretty busy with the Hamilton Fringe Festival, I’ve had two days off where I’ve been looking for employment. Just something to get myself a bit more established here and to pay my bills while I pursue an acting career. I’ve had a few bites that look promising and many friends have suggested I sign up with a temp agency. I’ve worked with temp agencies in Ottawa before and things looked really good when I got a call immediately after sending in my resume about a potential position.

That said, here are a few of my pet peeves when looking for employment:

Most agencies will not tell you whom the potential employer they are suggesting you for is. I understand that there are probably confidentiality agreements and the agency doesn’t want people to go behind their backs to meet with an employer. However, there are certain companies/sectors that I do not feel comfortable working in and so wouldn’t it save us all a bit of time if I could cross it off right away?

Many job postings don’t indicate what the starting salary will be. Anything below $15 an hour (and even that’s pushing it) and I’m not interested. Now, this is not me being greedy, this is based on my level of education and work experience, as well as comparable marketplace demand. So, if I knew your starting salary was too low from the beginning, I would not have bothered applying in the first place.

I wish I wouldn’t get ask to rewrite what was on my resume every single time. I know it’s to make the employer’s life easier, probably by granting them access to an easily searchable database, but then why also ask for a resume?

Which brings me to what’s actually on my resume: marketing, communications, promotions, event planning… though I can fill in some short term administrative positions, do you really think this is the best use of my skills and time?

So what am I looking for? Temporary Contract or Part-Time work in the fields of Marketing (preferably with regards to Social Media), Media Relations, Promotions or Event Planning that allows me the flexibility to pursue my acting career. If you have suggestions, please leave them in the comment field below.